Friday, October 21, 2011

Rye Grass

A very few months of the year I can pretend that I have a lush, green lawn. The rest of the year, the cursed sod is more weeds than lawn and much more effort than it is worth. In October in the Central San Joaquin Valley, lawns are seeded with winter rye. When I was a kid the event meant the stench of steer manure; but that stench signaled that Trick or Treating was on its way. Now, most lawns are simply sown with some sort of rye and kept moist without the addition of steer manure by irrigating 3 times each day. The salts from the manure has made it less attractive – as if it could be any less attractive.

Once the seed is up and established, the weather cools and the fog rolls in. Nature takes care of the irrigation. Hip Hip!

At this very moment my hubby is out spreading perennial rye seeds over the hybrid Bermuda grass that is our back lawn! Long ago we also used steer manure to cover the seeds, but now he just sows on top of the Bermuda. He changed from annual to perennial rye a couple of years ago in hopes that the rye would return with cooler todays. It does come back but only sporadically.(He just came in and said the birds are loving it!) Good luck with your rye!